Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgian court rules surveillance bill unconstitutional

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Constitutional Court ruled that a 2014 surveillance bill is unconstitutional, rolling back on a controversial piece of legislation. The law allowed the security services to have unrestricted access to telecom operators’ networks to monitor communications. President Giorgi Margvelashvili had vetoed the bill in November 2014, but the Parliament overrode the veto and adopted the legislation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Italy dismisses Georgian rebel region

APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Italian Foreign Ministry dismissed a claim that the alleged new embassy of South Ossetia in Rome has any official status. Earlier, the Kremlin-backed Sputnik news agency reported the imminent opening of a representative office for South Ossetia in Rome. The Italian ministry said its official position “is to refuse recognition of the independence and sovereignty of South Ossetia.” Only Russia and a handful of countries looking to curry favour with the Kremlin have followed this lead and recognised South Ossetia as an independent country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Editorial: Georgia’s government

APRIL 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In the past few months, impatience has been the most common sentiment in Georgia’s political circles.

There was a change of PM at the end of last year, then the Republican Party announced it would run separately at the next election and now the once-loyal National Forum party withdrew from the government coalition.

But the most impatient move appears to have been played by President Giorgi Margvelashvili and PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili who announced the date for the autumn parliamentary elections for Oct. 8.

By convention, elections in Georgia are held in October, the government needs to give just two months of notice. Setting it up six months in advance was unnecessary. Unless, that is, the aim was to kick off electioneering early.

Voters and fellow coalition members are losing confidence in Georgian Dream. By setting the election date now, it might fancy it has more of a chance of persuading a sceptical public that it needs second term in power. It certainly has the deep pockets of Georgian billionaire, former PM and Georgian Dream financier to lean upon.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgia sets election date

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili set the date for the upcoming parliamentary elections for Oct. 8. Mr Margvelashvili said he had consulted with PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili, a member of the Georgian Dream government coalition, who signed the decree the following day.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgian Dream’s partner quits government coalition

APRIL 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — The National Forum, previously seen as one of the government’s most loyal junior partners, quit the Georgian Dream-led governing coalition, dealing a major blow to the coalition’s hopes of retaining a majority at a parliamentary election later this year.

The Georgian Dream coalition now has a thin majority in parliament, holding 82 seats out of a total of 150. The National Forum has six MPs. Its decision to quit government came only a few days after the Republican party, also part of the coalition government, said that it would campaign on a separate slate at the parliamentary election.

Korneli Kakachia, director of the local non-partisan think tank the Georgian Institute of Politics, said that recent government policies by the Georgian Dream party had irritated its junior partners.

“This is pretty damaging to the Georgian Dream, as the National Forum were very loyal partners. Their announcement will raise questions with the voters,” he said. “The other parties are still in the coalition, but their support for new laws is not assured. Especially not the recently proposed bill by Georgian Dream to allow the PM to stay in office and run for MP at the same time.”

Under the current legislation, the PM can’t run for election as an MP. The Georgian Dream, though, want to change this as they want current PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili to head their party list.

But splits in the coalition has impacted its popularity with voters. Luka, 32, leaned against his BMW taxi. “If they can’t even keep their coalition together, how can they rule a country?” he said.

Standing next to him, 58-year-old Giorgi nodded his head in agreement. “I voted for them in the last election, but I’m not sure I’ll give them my vote in October,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Inflation slows in Georgia

APRIL 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Georgia is slowing, figures from the Georgian Statistics Committee revealed. In March, prices grew by only 0.3%. Annualised inflation fell to 4.1% from 5.6% the previous month. An 18.7% year-on-year increase in medical products prices was the main component of inflation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Panama papers reveal Kazakh, Azerbaijani, Georgian offshore accounts

APRIL 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A massive leak of documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm based in Panama showed that government leaders and businessmen around the world have been using offshore tax havens to shelter assets and cash. Included in this list were Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s family, Georgia’s former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili and the grandson of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Inter RAO considers selling its Georgian unit

TBILISI, APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian state-owned power company Inter RAO wants to sell a portion of its electricity generation assets in Georgia, a move that would confirm its retreat from the South Caucasus.

Sources told RIA Novosti that Inter RAO is looking for a buyer for its subsidiary Mtkvari Energy, which operates the 600 MW Mtkvari thermal power plant.

The Mtkvari plant — located near Gardabani, 40km south-east of Tbilisi — is the largest gas-fired thermal power station in Georgia. Inter RAO has been hit hard by an economic malaise in Russia and is looking to raise cash by selling non-core assets.

“At the moment, we cannot confirm that such a deal has taken place,” the company’s press service told media.

Last October, Inter RAO sold Electricity Networks of Armenia JSC, the grid operator in Armenia, to Tashir Group, a Russian real estate company.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Ex-Georgian PM buys a giant tree and sails if down the Black Sea coast

MARCH 24 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Bidzina Ivanishvili is known in Georgia through his many different guises. He is a former PM and the de facto leader of the Georgian Dream ruling coalition. He is a billionaire and the country’s richest man. He collects fine art, such as Picasso’s, and keeps a personal zoo of exotic animals, such as penguins, zebras and sharks.

Now, courting more headlines and controversy, can be added the title of tree lover, or tree thief, depending on your point of view.

Pictures from Georgia showed workmen digging up and then moving by barge a 135-year-old tulip tree, the height of a 12-storey build- ing, 30km along the Black Sea coast to Mr Ivanishvili’s garden at one of his homes.

This prompted a barrage of outrage on social media across Georgia as well as from tree experts who questioned whether the tree would survive.

German forestry expert Walter Benneckendorf said the tree would die. “Theoretically it is possible to replant even older trees, but only if it would have been replanted every five years, so the roots are used to it,” he told the Conway Bulletin. “Replanting a 135-year-old tree without the previous measure will result without a question in the tree’s death.”

Activists also said there were only a few dozen tulip trees left in Georgia.

Still in televised remarks, Mr Ivanishvili said that he paid for the tree legally.

“Giant trees are my hobby. I am developing a park where I think it is appropriate,” he said without a trace of irony.

Either way, people on the Black Sea coast were, for a day, treated to the sight of an upright tree apparently sailing serenely along Georgia’s shoreline.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Turkey Calik to build plant in Georgia

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkey’s Calik Holding said it wants to build a combined-cycle thermal, wind and hydropower station and a gas storage facility in Georgia. Calik’s chairman Ahmet Calik and Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili met in Tbilisi and discussed Calik’s plans in Georgia. Calik has already built a 220 MW combined-cycle power plant in Gardabani, 40km south of Tbilisi.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)